Elementary-age Spanish speaking students spend much of their school day trying to build their English vocabulary and follow along in class.

But for one afternoon each week, about 40 of those students in the Nooksack Valley School District are encouraged to speak and read in nothing butSpanish.

In October, the district launched Club de Lectura, an after-school Spanish reading club for students who are part of the English Language Learners programs at Nooksack and Everson elementary schools.

“We have kids read in their primary language, which is Spanish, and that just can help build a foundation in their first language so it’s easier to transition to the second language,” said Sylvia Mendoza, who teaches the club with Carol Hagen.

At the club, students spend time reading a book as a class, discussing themes and reading books with high school and middle school tutors. Students also can choose from the collection of hundreds of Spanish-language books to take home.

This is the first year of the club, which was started by Everson Elementary Principal Kevin DeVere after he heard about a similar program in another school district.

The club was originally scheduled to end early this spring, but it has been extended until about the end of the school year and will be offered again next year, Mendoza said.

While Club de Lectura, which is funded by a grant, is a reading club, it’s also an opportunity for the younger students to build a mentorship bond with the teenagers.

“The tutors really take the kids to heart, and readers love having a role model,” Mendoza said.

Nooksack Valley High School seniors Araceli Ayala and Monica de Leon are using the tutoring experience as their senior culminating project, a high school graduation requirement.

“Even if it weren’t a project, I’d probably help anyway,” de Leon said. “We know all the kids from the community.”

“And they look up to us,” added Ayala.

Even though the club requires them being at school longer, the readers enjoy themselves, starting their club time running up to their tutors for high-fives.

But the reason they all attend can be summed up in secondgrader Sheila Mata’s response to why she likes the club:

“Because I learn how to read!”